Xigmatek SD1283 Dark Knight Night Hawk Edition CPU Cooler

I realized while taking the pics that I needed to remove the legs of the other CPU cooler, but did not have my screwdrivers, so please forgive the difference. The object in these next pictures is for you to gain a little comparative insight into the differences between the 2 sibling units. The original SD1283 Dark Night is a dark nickle alloy. Almost a “smoke black”. Beautiful when it came out of the box, but as you can see, difficult to keep clean and smudge free. (My skin pH is horrible for these types of surfaces, as well as the fact that my skin produces oils like nobodys business… this leads to smudges you see below. This is not a natural state of the original Dark Night.

From above, you can see that the new Dark Night has been put on a diet, as significant material has been removed from it’s cooling fins. My guess, is the ceramic coating allows for better use of surface area, therefore less material is needed. The divot in the middle of the new unit may also have some airflow benefits, but is also for clearance when using a screwdriver on the crossbar retention mechanism. 

Both units using the direct contact heat pipes, however the Night Hawk directly exposes the copper heat pipe to the surface, while the older version maintains its nickle finish on the pipes. 

Comparing the widths, they are a near match (maybe ~1-2mm difference tops) at their widest points on the fin ends. Also note that the new Night Hawk has fan attachment channeling on the opposite side, where as the original Dark Night did not. The fans are attached using grommets that are scored in the middle of the rubber cylinder so that you slip the grommet over one of the heat sink fin ends, and into the cylindrical channel.